Development of process technology for preparation of beverages from watermelon with pectin as stabilizer.

Watermelon beverages such as juice, ready-to-serve (RTS) and nectar were prepared with pectin as suitable stabilizing agent in order to overcome the problem of sedimentation and cloud separation of its beverages. The process technologies for preparation of watermelon beverages were also established. Physico-chemical characterization of the prepared beverages was undertaken by evaluating suspension stability index, turbidity loss rate, total soluble solids, lycopene content as well as sensory analysis. The numerical optimization results indicated that the overall optimum region for watermelon RTS beverage was predicted to be at the combined level of watermelon juice 16.33%, brix: acid ratio of 13.03 and stabilizer pectin at 0.76% level. Whereas, overall optimum region for watermelon nectar beverage was evaluated to be the combined level of watermelon juice 30%, brix: acid ratio of 19.75 and stabilizer pectin at 0.28% level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]